COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES VISITING TIMOR-LESTE

Dili, 09 May 2004
Dili, 09 May 2004 Timor-Leste Foreign Minister, Dr Jose Ramos-Horta welcomes the visit of Community Democracies delegations in Dili on 10th of May 2004. The Community Democracies is a group of more then 100 countries that shares and promotes democratic vales within the UN system. The aim of the Community Democracies is to strengthen collaboration among governments and democracy advocated in building up an effective worldwide community of democratic nations based on the initiative of the June 2000 Warsaw Community of Democracies Conference.

This Community of states drawn from a diverse mix of regions, cultures and religions has dedicated itself to core set of democratic principles and to supporting cooperation among democracies worldwide.

The objective of the visit is to welcome Timor-Leste as the world’s newest democracy, share the experiences of other nations that have undergone a transition to democracy, to give the representatives of these other nations the opportunity to benefit from the unique perspectives that the people of Timor-Leste can offer on the challenges presented by democracy-building.

The delegation will include government officials, judges and other legal professional, human rights officials and law enforcement officials. Over the course of the visit, experience will be shared o a range of issues, including, justice, police and the rule of law in democracies, truth and reconciliation (CAVR), the development of the political parties and local government structures.

Countries represented in the delegations are: Cape Verde, Mongolia, Australia, Italy, Peru, Lithuania, South Africa, New Zealand, Portugal, United Stated of America, United Kingdom and Chile.

It will held the press conference on Friday 14th May, at 9.00 am at the UNMISET conference room.